Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry is set to be a bargain in 2025 unless an extension comes barreling down the pike.
Speaking Tuesday at his pre-draft news conference, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta didn't provide any insight into where the club is with a potential new deal for Henry.
"We have a lot of different balls in air right now," DeCosta said, via the team's official transcript. "That's probably what I would say on that. I'm not going to talk about what we're doing [or] what we're not doing behind the scenes business-wise with these guys. I don't think it's good for me to do that, but I would say that aside from the draft, as you all know, we're looking at guys that are still available, free agents on the street. We're looking at re-signing our own guys. We're blessed to have a bunch of really good players, and we're going to try and keep as many of those guys as we can. It's a challenge."
Henry inked a two-year, $16 million contract with the Ravens in 2024 and is set to earn $6 million in base salary this season. There were questions entering last year whether the five-time Pro Bowler had too much tread on his tires. Henry silenced those queries with thunder.
The now 31-year-old smashed for 1,921 yards and a league-high 16 touchdowns on 325 carries. His rushing total would normally have led the league if not for Saquon Barkley's historic 2,005-yard season.
Currently, Henry's deal is a massive bargain for the Ravens.
With the 2025 NFL Draft approaching next week, it doesn't appear there is an impetus to rework the deal now. However, as we get closer to the season -- perhaps in July or August during training camp -- an extension for the bulldozing back makes sense to lower his cap figure (giving the Ravens in-season flexibility) and reward his importance. Of course, Baltimore also knows it will have to re-do Lamar Jackson's contract at some point as well.
